Be Excellent To Each Other

Brilliantly, after two hours of me ridiculing Land Rover's inability to deliver the ordered car without defects, and them being smug while I did paperwork on the Superb, it turns out that Skoda failed to deliver the car I ordered.

Thankfully 'just' heated washer nozzles, and I hadn't paid for them because some idiot removed them from the order, but that means I also get a free boot liner. I think I'll mention I expect a decent amount of fuel in the tank as well, and maybe some cargo nets.

They'd just better not fuck up the paint as well.

Helen's st was great, with the exception of being shit on UK roads from a suspension setup point of view.

It was also terrible on fuel, but money doesn't seem to bother you.

The Octy is going into the garage tomorrow to fix the locks and turbo issue. #pray4me

Other than those issues I've been happy with it so far. Who knew getting 55mpg could be so satisfying?

Good luck, hopefully an easy fix. Getting 600 miles per tank from my 110TDi at the moment. Might be a touch more once I get round to serving it.

Just worked out it's 55mpg based on my 50lt tank, don't drive it economically either.

MrsDoc filled our car with petrol last week. We last filled it driving back from Grim...'s on New Year's Day.

We probably shouldn't own a car.

Does petrol go off?

My er5 started 3rd press of button after 6 years sitting. So, not under normal timescales.

I guess it's made from dinosaurs so would've gone off before now if it ever would.

If left in the open it becomes unusable in about a year.

In WW2, During the Africa campaign, the British troops had huge problems with fuel evaporating from their storage containers. The German army didn't suffer nearly so badly, so enemy fuel drums were much prized amongst the allied troops. Which is why fuel containers ate known as jerry cans.

SPOILER ALERT

It's on its way back to me. This is after I refunded the buyer and put in an insurance claim.

Funny how they magically found it when the alternative was paying out. They were going to send it on to the addressee too before I kicked up a fuss!

Fucking Parcelforce bastards.

Very witty, 827 bananas

Door and turbo fixed. Drives like a completely different car!

Still some minor issues but I'll take those to my local garage.

Did they say what it was?

Glad you've got it sorted.

I saw him fix it. Actuator had come loose.

Result!

Excellent news. What's the minor stuff?

Electric wing mirror adjuster just alters nearside mirror on both settings (probably the switch then)
Driver side reading light doesn't stay on when pressed
Driver door doesn't unlock with remote button (all others do)

I think that's it.

Would happily live with all those apart from the driver door. That would mash my tits. Glad you've ended up with a decent motor, must have been stressful after the last one.

Yeah it's pretty nice! Not as comfy as the Merc but so much better on fuel and handles better. The less said about the Bora the better!

Might even think about the stage 1 remap as my mate might be able to get it cheap for me.

Petrol doesn't really go off if it's sat in your tank, but sediment can settle after a while.

Enough of it can bung up the fuel filter, but it's not really a legitimate concern.

Beware the insurance premiums.

I don’t really advocate not disclosing things to insurers, but on a car of this age you’ve got no way of knowing that a previous owner might have remapped it.

I sold my old car, and gave them the car and the V5. Try to stop my direct debit on the tax and it won’t let me online as I need the V5. Sodding dealer hasn’t changed it so I need to call them. Ugh.

Yeah, you're meant to do the V5 yourself.

Although I did the same thing with the Bora!

I'm not sure that still gives me a leg to stand on, but the risk is pretty minimal unless I kill someone I guess. Even then would they think to check an engine mapping? Who knows.

From what I've read your insurance premium goes up a bit but it's not astronomical anyway.

If you sold it to a dealer, they should have given you the yellow bit so you can cancel your tax. A dealer won't change the v5 until they sell the car, as it will add another owner to it.

Can't you cancel the direct debit with your bank?

Also, due to it's age and milage factor in a possibility of needing a new clutch. Fairly common for them to give up the ghost with the added torque.

Clutches will go on cars of that age no matter what. Look at my Civic and the Bora too. They're a consumable item, after all.

Yes. I know full well having replaced mine (flywheel and gearbox too) a month ago. Just saying the extra oomph might be just enough for it to go as soon as it's mapped so be prepared monetarily x

Pics of your Civic and the Bora too plz

I requested a settlement figure for the PCP on the 5GT earlier in the week. £18,182.

I reckon I could just about sell it for a little bit more than that, or very slightly under.

I could then get a cheaper snotter, like a £1,500 E39 estate or an Audi A4 estate or something like that and run that into the ground.

Fuel costs would be higher, but I wouldn't be paying just to have the car, and insurance should also be dramatically cheaper.

Decisions... decisions...

(the other thing is whether anyone would actually buy a car like that in a situation where they would need to pay the finance company over the phone)

I'm not even sure you're allowed to.

It's pretty normal apparently, the sticking point comes in that it can take some time for a payment to clear.

I think this is why it's normally recommended that the person buying the car is the one that rings up to pay the finance company from their own account, rather than giving you the money and have you pay it off - they know they've made the payment then.

I think the latter instance wouldn't be permissible. Because in essence you're selling something you don't yet own.

How far through the PCP are you? Read up on voluntary termination.

Rare moment of unalloyed joy.

And yesterday's surprise road block.

Well if you will drive past BikNorton's house.

Not even a quarter through, but as it’s a PCP I won’t get anywhere near the 50% mark required for VT until near the end of the agreement.

Simply take your car to the Isle of Man and Hearthley will buy it.

We are back to land rover *again* on Wednesday evening to discuss their fuck ups.

By brilliant coincidence I pick up my superb Wednesday lunchtime, so if they manage to use a clean cloth I will be pissing myself.

Otherwise I'll be with the police on a suspected arson charge.

Guy over the road is washing an Aston Martin V8 this morning. He's had some nice cars in his front garden, but that's probably the nicest

He's still going. Apparently the cars worth in the region of £60k and the owner wanted it super shiny as he's looking to sell.

It's going to have to very shiny indeed to raise that sort of money! It's a £30k car at best in a private sale.

It’s a 2006 with about 30k miles so somewhere between £30-40k looks about right.

Fair enough. I guess the guy washing it isn't the best judge of the value

It would barely be £60k off the forecourt.